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Topic: Guru (Read 2172 times)

Salam!Should we Christians have a Guru like hindus (I mean a Christian Guru of course)?Should we also read book and discuss with other people or is our Guru suffient? If Guru is enough then why go to other people?

I don't know what exactly a Hindu guru does, so I don't know how close it would be to a Christian concept, such as the spiritual father (and even the concept of a spiritual father can vary greatly, e.g. it can be nothing more than someone to get advice from, or it could be someone that a monk confesses everything they've thought about to, and everything in between).

I don't know what exactly a Hindu guru does, so I don't know how close it would be to a Christian concept, such as the spiritual father (and even the concept of a spiritual father can vary greatly, e.g. it can be nothing more than someone to get advice from, or it could be someone that a monk confesses everything they've thought about to, and everything in between).

Thank you, though I'm still not sure I understand. He switches from talking about gurus to talking about Jesus, but is he then saying that we should submit to a guru (person) as we would a guru? Or that we should follow a guru as part of submission to Christ? Or have I misunderstood totally?

...you can imagine so-called healing services of the pigpen. The books that could be written, you know: Life in the Pigpen. How to Cope in the Pigpen. Being Happy in the Pigpen. Surviving in the Pigpen. And then there could be counselling, for people who feel unhappy in the pigpen, to try to get them to come to terms with the pigpen, and to accept the pigpen.

We have Bishops and priests, why do we need a guru? The Guru's job is to give spiritual counselling, and to point the chela (disciple's) way to God. We have the way to God, his name is Jesus, and the method by which we are saved through the blood of the Lamb can only be found by following the teachings of the Church. It is good to have a teacher, but that is what the church clergy are for.

« Last Edit: May 14, 2011, 07:40:54 PM by AveChriste11 »

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Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the catholic faith; Which faith except every one do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity

This may not be all that relevant to the original question, but in a related topic...The Eastern Catholic Rite , Syro-Malabar of India has an icon of 'Christ the Guru'. Sanskrit term guru is a combination of gu, "darkness," and ru, "that which dispels".

It is not the most common icon among the Syro-Malabar by any means, but it is common.

This icon was written by Fr. Joy Elamkunnapuzha (a Syro-Malabar Catholic priest from the Carmelite order CMI) in 1977. There is a mosaic of this on the facade of the Chapel at Dharmaram College in Bangalore, India. Dharmaram College is a seminary of the CMI order with in the Syro-Malabar Eastern Rite.

In this icon Christ is seated in padmaasana, the lotus posture. The hand gestures show jnaanamudra, the sign of imparting knowledge and wisdom that dispel darkness.

The above is not a photograph of the original icon written by Fr. Joy in 1977 but rather is a photograph of an oil painting made by Mr.Manoj in 1993 based on the original icon written by Fr.Joy.

Yes, written. In the Orthodox Church (Oriental Orthodox also), we say an icon is written because it is not simply supposed to be a pretty painting people look at. It tells us a story about either a saint's life, or biblical event etc.

We should have a spiritual father who guides us. OK I get that. How should we deal with listening to other spiritual people? they may say something else than the spiritual father and wouldn't that just confuse us?

We should have a spiritual father who guides us. OK I get that. How should we deal with listening to other spiritual people? they may say something else than the spiritual father and wouldn't that just confuse us?

Swami Sivananda (whose ashram Mother Gravilia, the "ascetic of Love", visited for a while in India) expressed a basic element of spiritual practice: "Listen to all, but follow one. Respect all, but adore one. Gather knowledge from all, but adopt the teachings of one Master. Then you will have rapid spiritual progress."

« Last Edit: May 16, 2011, 06:52:56 AM by Jetavan »

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If you will, you can become all flame.Extra caritatem nulla salus.In order to become whole, take the "I" out of "holiness". सर्वभूतहितἌνω σχῶμεν τὰς καρδίας"Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is." -- Mohandas GandhiY dduw bo'r diolch.